John Robert Simon will trigger Putnam City North attack

The offensive line is mostly new, though Cole Morris, Matt Custer and Christian Glocke anchor the unit.

“The offensive line is always a key, no matter what level of football you're talking about, but it will definitely be important for us to find some guys we're comfortable with up there,” Wilson said. “Skill-wise, we're OK. We've got some guys who can run and catch the football. Up front will be the key, but the guys are working hard.”

Defensively, the Panthers will count heavily on their back seven, with returning players like Clark, Roosevelt Turner and Ruben Hunter in the mix.

Wilson focused on setting up a tough preseason schedule with scrimmages against Lawton and Edmond Santa Fe to get his squad ready for the season, in hopes of getting the Panthers back to the playoffs.

“When I first came here, we had been known for scrimmaging good people,” he said. “I feel like that's the way you get better. We need to find a way to start getting better, and hopefully those scrimmages do that and get us ready for that first game.”

MORE FROM NEWSOK

A lifelong resident of the Oklahoma City metro area, Scott Wright has been on The Oklahoman staff since 2005, covering a little bit of everything on the state's sports scene. He has been a beat writer for football and basketball at Oklahoma and...